Ruling – Ability

Madame Masque’s ability is a While Active ability. A While Active ability is one that works regardless of how many of the character’s dice are in the Field Zone. While Active abilities are like a light – it’s either on, or it’s off.

You must have at least one Madame Masque character die in the Field Zone to gain the benefits of her ability. Having more than one will not affect how her ability functions.

While you have a Madame Masque die in the Field Zone, your opponent can’t use any abilities that say ‘When Fielded’. This does not apply to keywords that function like a When Fielded ability. For example:Intimidate acts like a When Fielded ability, but Madame Masque won’t stop it because the character’s ability does not say When Fielded. Reminder text in parentheses is not considered to be the character’s actual ability, only a reminder of how the ability works.

If your opponent has a Madame Masque character die in the Field Zone, and you try to borrow one of their characters (via an ability like the one on Collector: Tanaleer Tivan) with a When Fielded ability, you will not get to use that ability. When you borrow the die, it’s temporarily yours for game effects.

Madame Masque’s ability is not optional. You can’t pick and chose which ability is ignored and which isn’t.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Madame Mask is a Mask type character card.
~ She has the Villain affiliation.
~ She has a Max Dice of four.
~ This card is a Uncommon and is #59 of 124.

Opinion

I totally understand the confusion with this card, especially for newer players. I’ve gotten a few questions about her ability vs Keywords as well as the Collector question. Before they ruled on her officially, I was using the Global ruling as a basis for my ruling – which they used as well. When you use a Global on an opponent’s card, it’s not your opponent’s Global when you use it – you are the one using it. Same applies to borrowing character dice.

I’ve heard lots of argument on both sides for using Madame Masque over Wonder Woman: Reflections. There are lots of pros and cons and each player should weigh them individually for their own team and play style. Wonder Woman costs one more to purchase, but she also shuts down When Attacks abilities, like the nasty Bard and Guy Gardner. Wonder Woman has better stats, but does cost one more to field on level three. They’re both Mask characters. Madame Masque is a Villain and there are plenty of anti Villain cards. Wonder Woman has the Justice League affiliation, which really doesn’t matter in Modern Age, but you could loosely build around it in Golden Age.

Personally, I prefer Wonder Woman over Madame Masque, but each player should look at both of them and decide for themselves which they prefer. Madame Masque has her uses. She could be invaluable for a Villain only event!

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look atSilver Sable: Outlawfrom the Marvel Amazing Spider-Man set.

Ruling – Ability

“When Silver Sable attacks, add a die from your bag to your Prep Area. If it is a Sidekick, Silver Sable is unblockable.“

Silver Sable’s ability is a When Attacks ability. When Attacks abilities trigger simultaneously when all attackers have been assigned. If there are multiple When Attacks abilities on the active player’s side, the active player resolves them in the order they choose.

When a Silver Sable die attacks, you take a die from your bag and place it in your Prep Area. This is not the same as drawing a die, so you do not get to refill an empty bag when using this ability. Only abilities that instruct you to drawa die will trigger a bag refill.

If the die you add to your Prep Area is a Sidekick die, the Silver Sable die that triggered that ability will be unblockable. Ally dice are only considered to be Sidekick dice while they are on a character face and in the Field Zone. If you add a die with Ally to your Prep Area with this ability, Silver Sable will not be unblockable.

Silver Sable’s ability is not optional. When each of your Silver Sable dice attack, you must add a die from your bag to your Prep Area. If you can’t, this ability does nothing. You will not take damage if you can’t add a die to your Prep Area because Bag Burn only happens during your Clear and Draw step while drawing your four dice for the turn.

Each of your Silver Sable dice that attack will trigger this ability. Each trigger of the ability will only apply to the Silver Sable die that triggered it. For example: I have two Silver Sable dice in the Field Zone. I decide to attack with both, so I assign both as attackers. Both abilities trigger simultaneously, but I resolve them individually. I add a die to my Prep Area from my bag for the first Silver Sable die. The die I added to my Prep Area is not a Sidekick, so the first Silver Sable die is still able to be blocked. I add a die to my Prep Area from my bag for the second Silver Sable die and it’s a Sidekick, so my second Silver Sable die is unblockable. My first Silver Sable die is still able to be blocked because she didn’t add a Sidekick to my Prep Area – only the second one did.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Silver Sable is a Mask type character card.
~ She has the Spider-Friends affiliation.
~ She has a Max Dice of four.
~ This card is a Common from the Starter and is #15 of 142.

Official Sources

Opinion

I know a lot of folks don’t care for the Amazing Spider-Man set, but I have loads of fun playing with cards from this set. This is one of those cards. I love using Silver Sable with The Front Line: Basic Action Card, and keeping my bag full of Sidekicks. This is a great concept to build around for casual play because it’s not super serious broken, and it’s not super difficult to set up. She’s got a little bit of higher purchase cost than I like, but with a few well placed Front Line dice with a bag loaded with Sidekicks, you could be punching someone in the face for a quite a bit of damage. She’s a 0/1/1 to field, so she’s not too high on fielding costs, and her attack is 3/4/4. When you drop two Front Line dice on her, she becomes a 9/10/10, that’s also potentially unblockable.

I recently had someone ask about attacking with multiples of her dice, and I realized that I hadn’t featured her for an article yet. I also thought that now would be a good time to feature her, because I’ve had lots of inquiries about cultivating casual-competitive scenes. This is the perfect card for that type of scene!

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look atCrush Card Virus: Basic Action Cardfrom the Yu-Gi-Oh! Starter set.

Ruling – Ability

“Knock out one of your monsters in the field to knock out an opponent’s monster up to 1 level higher than yours.“

Cards from the Yu-Gi-Oh! set use the term monster instead of character. Monster from Yu-Gi-Oh! and character are synonymous.

When you use this action die, you must be able to target an opponent’s character die that is the same level or one level higher than your character die that you KO. If you can’t target an opponent’s character die or there isn’t an opposing character die to KO, you can’t use this action die. You can’t use an action die for no effect.

When you KO one of your character dice to use this ability, it is considered to be part of the cost to using this action die. If you are not able to use the action die, you will not be able to KO one of your character dice. If you don’t have a character die to KO, you can’t use this action die.

When you use this action die, if the character die you KO has a When KO’d ability or a keyword that triggers when the character die is KO’d, those abilities will trigger. If you KO an opponent’s die that has a When KO’d ability or a keyword that triggers when the character die is KO’d, those abilities will trigger as well.

Sidekick dice are considered level one character dice. If you KO a Sidekick as part of the cost to play Crush Card Virus, you can target an opposing character die of level one or level two.

Special note about Regenerate – This is a KO replacement effect. If you attempt to use Crush Card Virus and choose one of your character dice with Regenerate and it regenerates successfully, you will not be able to choose an opposing character die to KO. This is because the additional cost of KO’ing a character die was not paid. The action die would be placed Out of Play and not back into your Reserve Pool, because you attempted to activate it and it ‘fizzled’ due to a replacement effect. There isn’t an official ruling for this.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Crush Card Virus is a Basic Action Card and does not have an energy type.
~ It does not have an affiliation.
~ It does not have a Max Dice number, instead it says Use: 3 which means you must use exactly three dice for this card.
~ This card is an Common and is #112 of 120.

Opinion

I remember back in the good old days, we would use this card on teams with big When KO’d abilities that we didn’t want to use Blue-Eyes White Dragon on. Bringing BEWD meant we were potentially helping our opponent with the discount Global. Sure, BEWD was way more convenient, but this card could easily tip the scales against players that didn’t bring BEWD but hoped their opponents did.

In the current card pool for Golden Age, I’m not sure if this card would still hold it’s shine against something like BEWD. It possibly could, especially if you’re also using Mister Miracle: Show Must Go On. While he’s active, he gives your action dice the Boomerang keyword, which is really handy at times! It would depend on what other action dice you were using. If you’re using lots of Gear or Continuous action dice, then Mister Miracle probably is not a good idea.

I think it still has some playablility on particular teams, but I believe they need to be specific builds. Also, BEWD Global is still great in Golden Age for its cost reduction and it tends to pull the attention away from these other, more gimmicky type cards. But don’t count Crush Card Virus out completely! If you want a card that can KO your dudes for a When KO’d ability, see if this one works for you.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look atPolaris: Polar Opposites from the Marvel X-Men First Class set.

Ruling – Ability

“While Polaris is active, when an opponent uses a Global Ability or Action die, your character dice gain +2D (until end of turn).“

Polaris’s ability is a While Active ability. A While Active ability is one that works regardless of how many of the character’s dice are in the Field Zone. While Active abilities are like a light – it’s either on, or it’s off.

Regardless of how many of her dice are in the field, when her triggering condition is met, the effect from her ability will give your character dice +2D. The While Active on her card is there to show that you would not get +2D for each of her dice in the Field Zone, only that she needs to be active for her ability to work.

When your opponent uses an Action die or a Global, while Polaris is in the Field Zone, your character dice will get +2D until the end of the turn. For example: If your opponent uses an Action die or Global, your active character dice will get +2D until the end of turn. If your opponent uses another Action die or a Global in that same turn, your active character dice will get another +2D. This effect will end at the end of the turn that it was applied.

Character dice that enter the Field Zone after Polaris’s ability has been triggered will not gain the +2D. The character dice must already be in the Field Zone to gain the defense boost.

Polaris’s ability will only trigger if your opponent uses an Action die or Global.

Polaris’s ability will also give her +2D because her ability does specify ‘other’ character dice.

If your opponent uses a Action die or Global ability that would KO one of your character dice, that die could be KO’d, but only if the damage was enough to KO the character die after Polaris’s effect is applied. For example: Your opponent uses the Global on Unstable Canister: Basic Action Card and targets one of your Sidekick dice that has 1D. Polaris’s ability will trigger and grant that Sidekick +2D. If Polaris is KO’d by an Action die or Global, her ability is still in the queue, meaning your other character dice will get the +2D.

If an Action or Global effect, like the one on the non-Basic Action Prismatic Spray: Lesser Spell is used, Polaris will not be able to trigger her ability. Again, this is because the ability on the Action die must fully resolve first. Polaris’s ability would be up next, but because her card text has been lost or blanked, she no longer has an ability to resolve.

Polaris’s ability is not optional. If her ability is triggered (and not blanked), your character dice will be given +2D.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Polaris is a Shield type character card.
~ She has the X-Men affiliation.
~ She has a Max Dice of four.
~ This card is an Common and is #25 of 124.

Official Sources

Opinion

I would like this ability if there was a more reliable trigger. Her ability is way too easy to play around and her fielding costs are too expensive. Her stats are not bad at all, but her fielding costs are not in line with her stats. I really like Polaris as a character, but this version of her is not all that amazing.

In a draft, this card is not terrible. I’ve played with her before and she’s really handy to have when your opponent is using Action dice on their turn and they forget she’s in the field. Her ability boosts the defense of your character dice, making them great blockers. But outside of sealed or limited events, I don’t see her getting much play. Her ability is very conditional and even though Cosmic Cube is a big deal, boosting defense on character dice is not going help against those type of teams. I don’t think she’s got a place in the current competitive meta scene.

I saw some folks asking about this card recently and some of my locals had questions about her ability when we were drafting this set. I thought I should go ahead and feature her card since she’s been turning up in conversations lately.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

“When you field a character die from your Reserve Pool, you may field target character die in your Used Pile on the same level for free. (The Bifrost doesn’t trigger itself.)”

I will strikeout text that does not follow this errata and make any corrections needed. The corrections will be in red.

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at The Bifrost: Bridge Between Realms from the Marvel The Mighty Thor set.

Ruling – Ability

“When you field a character die, you may field target character die in your Used Pile on the same level for free.”

“When you field a character die from your Reserve Pool, you may field target character die in your Used Pile on the same level for free. (The Bifrost doesn’t trigger itself.)”

When you use this action die, it will go out of play, but the effect will remain until the end of your turn.

Fielding a character die is when you pay the fielding cost and move a character from your Reserve Pool into the Field Zone. Characters can also be fielded by other means, such as character abilities or action dice, but they are only considered ‘fielded’ if the wording on the card specifically says to ‘field’ the character die.

When you field a character die while this effect is active, you have the option of fielding a character die from your Used Pile. You will be able to field the character die from your Used Pile for free, meaning you will not have to pay the fielding cost associated with the character’s level. For example, if the character die you field is level three, the character die you field from your Used Pile will also be fielded at level three and not cost any energy to field.

Fielding a Sidekick will allow you to field a character die from your Used Pile at level one, because Sidekicks only have one level. However, you cannot field a Sidekick from your Used Pile with this ability because Sidekick dice are not character dice while in the Used Pile.

Fielding a character from your Used Pile with The Bifrost’s ability will trigger any When Fielded abilities, including this ability. The Bifrost’s ability will only trigger from character dice that you field from your Reserve Pool. This ability is optional because the card uses the word ‘may’. Even if the ability is triggered, you are not required to activate the ability.

Ruling – Global Ability

The Bifrost has a Global ability on its card that says:“Global: Pay 0. Once per turn on your turn, spin one of your Sidekick character dice to its [SHIELD] face.”

This Global does not cost anything to activate. You only need to state that you are using the Global.

When you activate this Global, you choose one of your Sidekick dice in your Field Zone or Reserve Pool that’s showing a Sidekick character face, and then spin that die to its Shield energy face.

You can spin an Ally character to a single Shield energy face. The Ally character die must have a Shield energy face and also be in the Field Zone. Unlike Sidekick dice in the Reserve Pool, an Ally is only considered a Sidekick character while in the Field Zone.

This Global does not target.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ The Bifrost is a Shield type non-basic action card.
~ It has no affiliation.
~ It has a max dice of four.
~ This card is an Rare and is #124 of 136.

Official Sources

There is a ruling for a Global similar to The Bifrost’s Global, and you can find it, here.
There is a ruling about spinning Ally character dice to energy faces, here.
There is an errata for this card and you can find it, here.

Opinion

I know lots of folks are going completely bonkers for this card and many believe this card is very over powered. I do not believe this card is the meta buster that lots of folks think it is. If the goal is to use The Bifrost for the When Fielded abilities on characters being fielded from the Used Pile, then Wonder Woman: Reflections is a solid counter. The Bifrost is a four cost non-basic action, and most of the meta worthy When Fielded type cards are three or four to purchase as well, which means you can cycle those dice before ever buying The Bifrost. I know some folks in the groups have mentioned using it with a Guy Rush type build, but I believe The Bifrost is not necessary for those builds. I think it would clunk up the bag too much and slow the team down.

There are lots of folks calling for an errata but it really doesn’t need it. In practice, this card works well when you happen to have lots of characters in your Used Pile. But the setup to get those dice in position is no easy feat. I think we’ll see this card in major competitive scenes as folks try their hardest to break it and exploit it. This card is fun in draft and likely going to be fun in casual play as well. I think it might become a nuisance in Golden Age play if used with the right cards, but I don’t think it’s powerful enough that it needs an errata or a ban – yet. There could be another perfect storm, like Bard Blitz, waiting for its time to shine, but only time will tell.

If you have a build that you think is perfect for this card, I’d love to see it and try it! This card seems like it would be lots of fun to use with the right team, but I don’t plan to build around it myself. But I’m definitely open to seeing builds and trying them out. I’d also love to see what others think about this card, so please, leave me a comment!

~ If an errata or ruling should happen, I’ll most definitely add it to this article!

And – the errata happened. I believe it only happened because the ability wasn’t functioning the way they truly intended it. Now, the card is definitely not a meta-buster. I don’t think we’ll see this card much, if at all, in major competitive play now.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Need to look up a card? Be sure to check out DM RetroBox! It’s the best searchable card database I’ve found for when I’m at the computer.

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Scarlet Witch: Careful What You Wish For from the Marvel X-Men First Class set.

Ruling – Ability

“While Scarlet Witch is active, during your opponent’s Roll and Reroll Step, your opponent must reroll any Action dice that land on an Action face and cannot reroll any Action dice on energy faces.”

Scarlet Witch’s ability is a While Active ability. A While Active ability is one that works regardless of how many of the character’s dice are in the Field Zone. While Active abilities are like a light – it’s either on, or it’s off.

While Scarlet Witch is active, only during your opponent’s Roll and Reroll Step, if they roll any action dice and those dice land on an action face, they must choose to reroll them. They are not able to choose to reroll any action dice that show an energy face.

Scarlet Witch’s ability applies to all action dice: basic action dice, non-basic action dice, equipment, etc. Anything that is considered to be an action die will be affected by her effect.

If you have Scarlet Witch active, any action dice that show an action face after your opponent rolls their dice during the Roll and Reroll Step, must be chosen by the opponent to be rerolled. They can choose any other dice, except action dice showing an energy face, to reroll with the chosen action dice.

If the rerolled action dice land on an action face after they are rerolled, your opponent does not have to reroll them again. Scarlet Witch’s ability only forces them to choose to reroll them once during the Roll and Reroll Step.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Scarlet Witch is a Bolt type character card.
~ She has the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and Villain affiliation.
~ She has a max dice of four.
~ This card is an Common and is #31 of 124.

Official Sources

You can find the cross IP compatibility wording, here.
You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Strategy and Opinion

This Scarlet Witch could be powerful in almost any format where action dice are highly utilized. She’s a great soft counter for action dice teams or even a team that only uses one really powerful action die, like Lantern Ring: Limited Only By Imagination. With Scarlet Witch active, your opponent would essentially need to roll their action dice on an action face twice to keep them. Any action dice that are rolled on an energy face are stuck that way. Cards like Parallax will come in handy against Scarlet Witch, so if you’re using Scarlet Witch, don’t bring Parallax too!

I’m highly considering a spot for her on my Modern Age constructed team, mainly because there are so many good action dice out there that could be a problem. I plan to do some test playing with her very soon. It’s so difficult to test play right now because there are still so many sets scheduled for release and there could be something new or something better that would just take her place or make her obsolete.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Need to look up a card? Be sure to check out DM RetroBox! It’s the best searchable card database I’ve found for when I’m at the computer.

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Bronze Dragon: Apprentice Dragon from the Dungeons and Dragons Faerûn Under Siege Starter set.

Ruling – Anti-Breath Weapon Ability

“When a character die with Breath Weapon X attacks, you may pay X energy to prevent that damage.”

Breath Weapon:“When a character die with Breath Weapon X attacks, you may pay X energy. Deal X damage to your opponent and all of their character dice. You may use multiple Breath Weapons in a turn, but only one per character (no matter how many copies of that die are attacking).”

This ability is a reactive type ability, meaning it can only be used if the triggering effect has been used. Anti-Breath Weapons will only work if a Breath Weapon has been activated by a player. You can use an Anti-Breath Weapon on your own Breath Weapon attack.

The energy used to pay for the Anti-Breath Weapon does not need to be a specific type. You can use any energy to activate this ability, unless a card effect would state otherwise.

You can use this ability as many times as you have the energy to pay for it. Unlike Breath Weapon, Anti-Breath Weapon does not state that it can’t be used more than once from a single character die.

When a character die with Breath Weapon attacks, you must be able to match the amount of energy to prevent that damage. For example, if my opponent attacks with a character die that has Breath Weapon 2 and activates it, I must be able to pay two energy to activate my Anti-Breath Weapon. If I only have one energy, I can’t activate my character die’s Anti-Breath Weapon against a Breath Weapon 2.

You can’t spend more than the amount spent on the Breath Weapon for Anti-Breath Weapon. For example, if I have two mask energy in my Reserve Pool and my opponent activates a Breath Weapon 1, I can only spend one of my mask energy for Anti-Breath Weapon. The only exception to this are dice that are not able to spin down to a single energy face, such as a basic action die’s generic energy face. You would use one of that energy for the Anti-Breath Weapon and the other energy would be lost because the die can’t spin down. However, you could use both of the energy for multiple Anti-Breath Weapon abilities if there are multiple Breath Weapon abilities activated. For example, I have a basic action die showing two generic energy in my Reserve Pool. My opponent attacks and activates two different Breath Weapon 1 abilities. I can spend the two generic energy to activate my Anti-Breath Weapon ability twice.

Ruling – Ability

Bronze Dragon has an additional ability that could affect the amount of energy you have to spend to activate Anti-Breath Weapon for your Bronze Dragon die. The ability is a burst ability, and it’s only found on the level three face of Bronze Dragon’s die.

Any level three Bronze Dragon die will allow you to pay one less energy to activate their Anti-Breath Weapon ability. For example, A Bronze Dragon with the burst showing, will allow you to spend one energy instead of two to activate their Anti-Breath Weapon 2.

If the Breath Weapon is a Breath Weapon 1 and you have a Bronze Dragon die on a burst face, you do not need to pay to activate that die’s Anti-Breath Weapon.

This ability is not optional and will automatically reduce the amount of the Anti-Breath Weapon.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Bronze Dragon is a Mask type character card.
~ It has the Monster affiliation.
~ It has a max dice of four.
~ This card is an Common and is #2 of 142.

Official Sources

You can find the cross IP compatibility wording, here.
You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Strategy and Opinion

I don’t think Anti-Breath Weapon gets the love it deserves and that’s likely because Breath Weapon is not widely used. If there were meta teams that actively used Breath Weapon, we would see an increase in the use of Anti-Breath Weapon. Maybe the upcoming D&D set will feature some nastier Breath Weapon dudes, or more versatile Anti-Breath Weapon dudes.

Overall, the die stats for Bronze Dragon aren’t the terrible and the purchase cost is average for a character with beefy defense. This particular version is from the FUS Starter, but there is another version in the set. That cost one more, but in a D&D draft, he’s almost a must have. There are too many viable dragons with Breath Weapon in both sets to pass up the Bronze Dragon from the set.

If you’re playing a D&D only type format, I would highly recommend adding this card to your team, for all the reasons stated above.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Need to look up a card? Be sure to check out DM RetroBox! It’s the best searchable card database I’ve found for when I’m at the computer.

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Agent Venom: Losing Control from the Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy set.

Ruling – Call Out Ability

“When a character die with Call Out attacks, you target an opposing character die. The targeted die can only legally block the attacking die that used Call Out on it, and no other die can legally blocked the die that used Call Out. If the die that used Call Out cannot legally be blocked for any reason (an effect made it unblockable, two different dice chose the same target for their Call Out, the die targeted with Call Out was KO’d, etc.) then the effect of Call Out is cancelled.”

The Call Out ability will trigger automatically when the die with Call Out attacks. This ability is not optional because it does not say you ‘may’ target an opposing character die. Each die with Call Out will trigger the Call Out ability when it attacks, even if the dice are the same character. For example, I attack with an Agent Venom die and that die’s Call Out ability triggers. I attack with a second Agent Venom die and Call Out triggers again. Each die should target a different opposing die, or the effects will be cancelled.

Call Out is an ability that targets. If a character is not eligible to be targeted, you cannot target it for Call Out. For example, Raven: Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos! says “While Raven is active, your Mask Type and Teen Titan affiliated characters cannot be targeted by your opponents.” If my opponent has a Mask type character, a Sidekick, and Raven active, I cannot use the Call Out ability on any of their characters, except for the Sidekick die.

When you use Call Out on an opposing character die, the die you targeted is the only die that can block the character that used Call Out on it. None of the remaining opposing character dice can block the die that used Call Out. The die that is targeted for a Call Out ability can’t block any other attackers on that turn. For example, if I use Agent Venom’s Call Out on a Sidekick die, that is the only die that can block Agent Venom. Even if my opponent has four other character dice in the Field Zone, only that one Sidekick die that Agent Venom targeted can block him. And that same Sidekick die can’t block any of my other attacking dice.

A character die that’s been targeted by Call Out is not required to block, but if it does block, it can only block the die that targeted it with Call Out.

If the die that used Call Out is unblockable, the Call Out ability is cancelled and the die that was targeted for the Call Out ability can then choose to block a different attacking character die.

If the die that was targeted by Call Out is KO’d or removed before blockers are assigned, the effect is cancelled and the die that used Call Out can be blocked by other character dice that turn. For example, if I use Agent Venom’s Call Out to target a Sidekick die, but another character’s When Attacks ability deals damage to the Sidekick and KO’s it, my Agent Venom’s Call Out is cancelled and he can be blocked by other character dice as normal this turn.

If two dice use Call Out on the same opposing die, the effect of Call Out is cancelled and the opposing dice can choose to block as normal.

Ruling – Ability

Agent Venom has an additional effect on his card that says he can’t be KO’d the turn he uses Call Out, but only if he targets a Villain with his Call Out ability.

The Villain affiliation has two different affiliation icons. One is a red Hydra logo, commonly found in Marvel sets. The other is a stylized V, commonly found in DC sets and the TMNT sets. There have been Marvel sets that featured the V on their Villain cards.

Both of these symbols have the exact same meaning and are interchangeable. If a card has the Hydra icon in the text box, like Agent Venom, it applies to characters with the V icon as well.

If Agent Venom uses Call Out to target a Villain die, that die that used Call Out can’t be KO’d by combat damage, ability damage, or any other effect that says “KO”. The targeted die must have the Villain affiliation at the time it’s targeted. If the die gains the Villain affiliation later in the same turn, Agent Venom can still be KO’d because the targeted die was not a Villain at the time it was targeted. For example, when Agent Venom attacks, he targets a Sidekick die with Call Out. Blockers are assigned and then during the Actions and Globals portion of the Attack Step, I use a Global to give that same Sidekick the Villain affiliation. Agent Venom can still be KO’d this turn, because the Sidekick was not a Villain at the time Agent Venom targeted it with Call Out.

If Agent Venom’s Call Out effect is cancelled, he still gets the benefit of his second ability, as long as the die he targeted was a Villain. His ability only requires that he target a Villain with Call Out and not that the Call Out effect remains on the targeted die. For example, I attack with two Agent Venom dice. The first Agent Venom targets an opposing Villain die. The second Agent Venom die targets the same opposing Villain die. Both Call Out abilities are cancelled and both Agent Venom dice can be blocked by any opposing character die, but neither Agent Venom die can be KO’d this turn because they each targeted a Villain with their Call Out ability.

If the Villain that was targeted by Agent Venom’s Call Out blocks, Agent Venom will deal his attack value in combat damage to the blocker. He will also take damage from the Villain, but regardless of how much damage he has accumulated, he won’t be KO’d.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Agent Venom is a Mask type character card.
~ He has the Guardians of the Galaxy affiliation.
~ He has a max dice of four.
~ This card is an Common and is #2 of 124.

Official Sources

You can find the cross IP compatibility wording, here.
You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Strategy and Opinion

I had a chance to use this card in our draft, but because there were so few Villains being played, I never used his second ability. I think he could possibly have a spot on a few teams out there in the casual scene. I’m not sure just how good he’ll be in competitive metas though. His stats are good and his purchase cost is okay, but I’m not sure Villains are that much of a nuisance yet to bring something like this. They reused the Civil War Venom die, which I find very amusing. Agent Venom seems to get the Venom hand-me-downs as far as dice icons go.

I really like this card for a casual Guardians team. My old GotG team had trouble against Villains, but with an ability like this, it helps to clear out some of those more troublesome Villains without risking the loss of one of your pieces. If there were more Villains in the GotG set, this guy would be a bomb in drafts!

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Need to look up a card? Be sure to check out DM RetroBox! It’s the best searchable card database I’ve found for when I’m at the computer.

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Casey Jones: Lunatic Vigilante from the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles box set.

Ruling – Ability

Casey Jones has an ability that says he cannot be blocked by Sidekicks or Villain character dice. This ability works only when Casey Jones is attacking and it applies to each of his attacking character dice.

A die can be given the Villain affiliation through a card effect, and that would make that die unable to block. This will only work if the die is given the Villain affiliation during the Main Step, before Casey Jones attacks. If a character die is given the Villain affiliation after they are assigned as a blocker, it will have no effect on that die being able to block.

Character dice with the Ally Keyword cannot block Casey Jones because they are considered to be Sidekicks while in the Field Zone.

Villain Affiliation

The Villain affiliation has two different affiliation icons. One is a red Hydra logo, commonly found in Marvel sets. The other is a stylized V, commonly found in DC sets and the TMNT sets. There have been Marvel sets that featured the V on their Villain cards.

Both of these symbols have the exact same meaning and are interchangeable. If a card has the V in the text box, like Casey Jones, it applies to characters with the Hydra logo as well.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Casey Jones is a Fist type character card.
~ He does not have an affiliation.
~ He has a max dice of three.
~ This card is a Common and is #12 of 58.

Basic Information

Opinion and Strategy

I like characters that can’t be blocked because it puts pressure on your opponent to find a way to stay alive long enough to get their team to go off. I like Casey Jones because he’s a cheaper character with a good ability, and his stats aren’t terrible. I like using him and characters like him as a back up, in case my original plan goes wrong or doesn’t work. He tends to scare some folks when they’re using mostly Villains and Sidekicks/Allies. There are also Globals that can make a character die into a Villain so they can’t block. He’s best paired with a Global like the one on Lantern Power Ring: Energy Projection in Golden Age. For Modern Age, you have to use the Monument to Evil: Basic Action Card, because it’s the only card with a Global that grants the Villain affiliation. It works, but not as well because it requires a Mask and Fist energy where all the other Villain making Globals require one energy.

He seems fun to pair with Batwoman: Code of Honor. You make him a Villain and both of them are practically unblockable while attacking together. It’s a combo I’ve been thinking about and I hope to put it into action soon to see if it works well enough in a casual setting.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Need to look up a card? Be sure to check out DM RetroBox! It’s the best searchable card database I’ve found for when I’m at the computer.

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Colossus: Armored Up from the Marvel Deadpool set.

Ruling – Ability

Colossus has a When Attacks ability. This type of ability will trigger only when the character’s die is assigned as an attacker and will also trigger from each of that character’s attacking dice. For example: I attack with two Colossus dice. Each die trigger’s the When Attacks ability.

Colossus’s ability says that when his die attacks, any character that would be assigned to block, must first take two damage.

This ability has a very odd timing window in regards to how the Attack Step works. In the Attack Step, you assign your attackers first and after each attacker has been assigned, any When Attacks abilities will trigger. This is where Colossus’s ability will trigger. However, the damage will not be dealt at this time.

After assigning attackers, blockers are assigned. Because of Colossus’s ability, before a character die can be assigned to block, it must first take two damage. The defending player will choose a character die that they want to assign as a blocker, but before assigning that die, it’s dealt two damage. If the die survives the two damage, the defending player can then assign it to an attacking character die as a blocker.

Damage accumulates on character dice and when they have accumulated damage equal to or greater than their defense, the die is KO’d. Damage does not reduce the character die’s defense value.

Colossus’s ability does not target and it does not deal damage to all dice in the Field Zone. It only affects a die that would be assigned as a blocker – not dice that could be assigned as blockers.

Colossus’s ability is not optional. It automatically triggers when he attacks and will automatically affect any die that would later be assigned as a blocker.

Colossus’s damage will happen before the blocker can be assigned. When Blocks abilities will not trigger until the character that’s being assigned to block has survived the damage from Colossus and is then assigned as a blocker.

Character dice that are being assigned as blockers do not need to block Colossus specifically. His ability says it affects any character die that would be assigned to block – meaning his ability would affect a die that is being assigned to block any attacking character die.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Colossus is a Fist type character card.
~ He has the X-Men affiliation.
~ He has a max dice of four.
~ This card is a Rare and is #89 of 124.

Examples

These examples are for information purposes only, to show what would happen in certain scenarios. I am not suggesting that these examples are the best outcomes for each scenario and each example only features relevant parts of the turn, not the entire turn.

Example One:
Attacking with two Colossus dice.

Game State~ I have two level one Colossus dice (5A/5D) in the Field Zone.
~ My opponent has a Sidekick and a level two character with 1A/6D in the Field Zone.
~ I am entering into my Attack Step.(Attack Step – Assign Attackers)~ I assign my two Colossus dice to attack, moving them into the Attack Zone.
~ Colossus’ When Attacks ability is triggered. Damage is not done to any dice yet.(Attack Step – Assign Blockers)
~ My opponent chooses to block with their Sidekick and their other character die, but before they can be assigned as blockers, they must each take two damage from each Colossus die.
~ The Sidekick takes four damage and is KO’d. My opponent places the die in their Prep Area.
~ Their other character die (1A/6D) will also take four damage, two from each Colossus die. Their character is not KO’d and can now be assigned as a blocker.
~ My opponent assigns their remaining character to block one of my Colossus dice. They move their blocker to the Attack Zone and place it in front of the attacking Colossus they want to block.(Attack Step – Assign and Resolve Damage)
~ My blocked Colossus die will assign five damage to the character die blocking it. That character has previously accumulated four damage and it will be KO’d.
~ The blocking character assigns one damage to the Colossus it’s blocking. This is not enough to KO my Colossus die.
~ My unblocked Colossus die will deal five damage to my opponent’s life total and then move Out of Play.(Clean Up)
~ Character dice that were KO’d by combat damage during the Attack Step are now placed in the Prep Area. My opponent’s blocker will be moved to their Prep Area.~ Characters blocked, but not KO’d are removed from the Attack Zone, but stay in the Field Zone. The Attack Zone is part of the Field Zone, but only attacking and blocking characters can be in the Attack Zone.My Colossus die will be removed from the Attack Zone and placed back into the area labeled as the Field Zone.
~ All effects end unless otherwise specified (like a While Active or ‘End of Turn’ ability).
~ All damage is cleared.
~ End of turn abilities will resolve.
~ My turn is now over and my opponent’s turn will begin.

Basic Information

Opinion and Strategy

Mr. DDK brought this card up to me in a conversation a week or so ago. I thought is was a very interesting card and I realized just how weird and confusing his ability could be. While I like this ability, it could be a problem against certain characters that have abilities that trigger from them being damaged, like Babs, Hulk, or cards with the Vengeance Keyword. This is definitely not my type of card, but Mr. DDK thought it was kinda neat. It practically shuts down the Sidekick blocker walls.

I don’t think this card has a place in the major metas, mainly because of his cost, but also largely because his ability could backfire on you if your opponent has a card like Babs (which is very popular!). I would love to see someone come up with an interesting use for this card and if you do or you already have, please feel free to share!

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Need to look up a card? Be sure to check out DM RetroBox! It’s the best searchable card database I’ve found for when I’m at the computer.